


Tested

by HerbertBest



Series: The Thread That Binds Us Here [8]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, Multi, Polyamory, Pregnancy Scares, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 18:53:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6578332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerbertBest/pseuds/HerbertBest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arin, Suzy and Dan think they have this whole not-quite-a-relationship of theirs totally in check.  </p><p>They, of course, did not count on one little mistake possibly - just maybe - changing their lives forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The smut laden conclusion to the previous bit will be coming eventually; til then - feels!

It had been a typical Tuesday, filled with editing aggravations and scheduling mishaps. Dan was not prepared for his peace to be bulldozed so abruptly, and with words that normally meant doom. 

"We have to talk." 

 

He looked up from his tea at Suzy's tone of voice. This was scary. This meant something was going on and she was afraid to voice her concerns right away lest her feelings spill awkwardly and uselessly out minus context. 

 

There were, he'd come to understand over the course of their relationship, several Suzys, all of them slightly differing in personality. Business Suzy was not the same person as Suzy, the sensualist who could ride his face for an hour without stopping. She also wasn't the same girl who fit nearly between him and Arin in a car or on a bed, talking quite seriously about the most foolish things. This was the same Suzy who'd settled herself on his bed in mascara and a top hat, planning to peg him. She was scared. Scared Suzy automatically worried him.

 

Arin, who was good at reading his wife's moods, automatically tried to pull her into his lap but she resisted. Whatever was wrong wouldn't be solved with teasing.

"No, Arin. We have to talk. _Now._ " She then pulled out of his reach and stalked out of the main room and toward the recording area.

 

Dan couldn't bear to look at Arin, to ask out loud what was wrong. Instead, Arin followed his wife without thinking, almost sweating through his hoodie as he raced to follow along. Dan automatically jumped to follow her into the sanctity of the recording booth - soundproof, private and airtight. 

 

God, it was definitely serious.

“Okay,” she said, immediately in charge, pacing the room. “You guys both know I’m on Depro, but I switched to pills because the side-effects for the shots were mixing with my meds in a way I hated...”

Arin nodded; Dan had not known this. He had always assumed Suzy and Arin were ‘safe’ and never questioned the whole birth control part of the equation. Okay, maybe he had for a quarter of a second when Brian had brought it up….

“…And I had to wait a couple of months for the effects of the shot to wear off and start up on pills….”

“Heh, yeah, that was fun,” Arin said. It had basically been he and Dan trying to figure out new ways to have fun all by their lonesome while Suzy dealt with everything. That had been a hell of a lot of fun. Dan reached out for a high-five from Arin without thinking. Everything had apparently evened out for her and they’d welcomed Suzy back into their shared sex life with several all-night passion-filled sessions, but the pills had been making her sick to her stomach, so she’d switched dosages. A mild bobble on the radar. Everything had been fine for three weeks more. 

“…Please don’t high five. Not now,” she demanded. “I’m supposed to start my first course on these new pills this week, but when I took a look at the back of the box I noticed the fine print; I was supposed to start them at the beginning of the month, not the end.”

Dan’s mouth went dry. “….Which means the past four weeks when you thought you were covered?” Arin asked.

Suzy couldn’t meet their eyes. “My boobs hurt like hell and I want to throw up every time Ross burns popcorn in the microwave. I took two tests this morning – one’s a green line, one’s pink, one’s blue. I’m taking another when I get home, and if it’s as screwed up as the last one I have to get a blood test.”

“You could be pregnant?” Dan asked.

“Yeah,” Suzy said. “Yeah. I might be pregnant.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The test is in, Dan and Arin have a chat and Dan worries about letting another person in on their secret.

They gathered three hours later in Arin and Suzy’s bathroom, where an egg timer counted off the minutes to their perdition. 

"Suz..." Dan's eyes kept following Suzy's pacing form as she rushed back and forth across the bathroom floor. She was making him dizzy and he suppressed a gagging noise while squeezing his eyes closed.

"You both blame me," she said, "it's okay, I blame me, I should've paid closer attention to the label on the stupid pill bottle. I don't know why I even..."

"Babe, stop. Stop, please," Arin begged her.

"I'm never this irresponsible, It's not fair, I understand if you don't..."

"You're a human being. People mess up." Arin said. She shot him an angry look.

"I can't relax. I can't joke about this." She took a deep breath. "What are we going to do if that stick turns blue?"

It was almost a song. Dan bit down on the tip of his tongue and cringed as the sharp pain kissed his nerve endings. When he regained the power of speech, "if that happens..." _I'm all in,_ he realized suddenly, but said, "I'll do what you want. Whatever you need."

Suzy leaned against the wall, frowning. "What if I don't want..."

The question actually made him ache. He and Arin exchanged worried looks. "Whatever happens, happens," Dan said. 

Then the bell rang. 

Both men sat awkwardly on the tub together, staying absolutely quiet, until they heard Suzy’s angry exclamation.

_”WHY DID IT TURN GREEN?”_

 

*** 

 

Dan and Arin were no match for Suzy’s aggravation, though they spent a lot of time trying to distract her with movies and tv shows. She – perturbed even with a blood test scheduled for the next day – stared nervously at her own phone for most of the night. Dan vaguely remembered Suzy and Arin offering him the couch, and he vaguely remembered falling to sleep after they settled sleeping arrangements out. He missed the warmth of his lovers' bed but he knew they had stuff to talk out in private.

In spite of his confused feelings, Dan supposed there were some lines he couldn't traverse.

That left him alone on the couch, having no idea what to do with himself – pretended to doze so Arin wouldn’t worry. But once Arin had joined his wife in bed, Dan spent a long time drifting in and out of consciousness, dreaming about small babies with his hair, having weird nightmare visions of tiny talking children chasing him down white hallways, trying to kill him.

He woke several hours later with a crick in his neck. Dan sat up and leaned back against the couch as he rubbed his eyes, breathing deeply as he tried to reorientate himself. 

He stirred up and then tried to fix his hair as his stomach rumbled. Arin was in the kitchen, he guessed from the muffled sound of his lover’s singing; Dan could smell bacon cooking and hear water boiling as he approached.

He pressed a quick kiss to the back of the other man's neck and Arin deliberately leaned back into Dan’s chest for a moment. Dan chuckled softly and reached for the toast Arin had placed on the counter.

"How's Suzy?"

"Throwing up."

Dan looked at his toast and placed it deliberately back on the plate. “I feel super bad that she feels awful.”

“Me too,” Arin said. “She kicked me out and told me to go eat, otherwise I’d still be with her.”

Dan made a soft murmuring sound, leaned against Arin’s back. “What do you think, Big Cat?”

“About what?” Arin looked almost innocent as he started plating the bacon.

Well, he’d rather be honest. “One of us possibly being Suzy’s baby daddy?”

“Less freaked than I thought I’d be,” Arin admitted. “We always wanted to have kids, just not this soon.” 

“But what if it’s mine?” Dan asked.

Arin said. “Then it’s going to be the cutest fucking baby with a huge mountain of brown hair and Suz’s smile. And thumbs that are only sorta weird.” His grin was a balm to Dan’s soul.

While he felt relief and a strange sense of peace at the declaration, he couldn’t help but panic reflexively at the mental image it gave him. “So you wouldn’t care?”

“It’s not like your jizz would've totally zapped all of Suzy’s eggs in one go, man. The baby would be mine where it counts, and Suzy and I could always have a bio kid if we wanted one that badly. If she decided to keep it.” Arin turned around, frowning. “That’s not your ish though, is it?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Dan said, trying to school his features into a picture of total peace.

“You’re freaking out over the idea of being somebody’s dad, yes or no?”

“Arin!”

“Well?”

“Maybe. It’s always been a up in the air subject for me, I never thought I’d actually be dealing with it now.” At the most productive and busiest time of his life.

Arin gave Dan a lop-sided grin. “’Whatever happens happens.’”

“Don’t throw my favorite quote back at me,” Dan smiled. But he buried his face in Arin’s shoulder, inhaled the scent of his soap and tried hard to steady himself. The last thing Suzy needed was his unbridled anxiety at a time like this.

When Barry came to pick Dan up he was almost calm enough to do the driving. At least until Barry turned to him and, with a puzzled look on his face, asked, “so what’s going on with you guys?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan tells Barry - sort of. Kind of. And then completely avoids telling Brian when Arin calls him from Suzy's appointment.

Dan could lie. In fact, lying was probably the best possible option at this point. _Just staying late to work on some songs,_ he could say, and the other man wouldn’t have another question. Lying “Bar, you have to promise me you won’t freak out and get judgy,” Dan said. “Judgy would be super unhelpful right now.”

Barry’s eyes widened. “Uh, how serious is your problem?” His eyes widened. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

“I’m fine dude, it’s not me.” He groaned. “If I tell you this, you have to promise not to tell Ross. Nobody but Brian knows and we don’t want it to spread around.”

“Oh, sure, I would never…wait, you told Brian before me?” Barry frowned.

“Only because he’s a super good guesser. Anyway, uh..it’s about Suzy. She’s kind of dealing with some stuff right now, and it may or may not be my fault that she’s that way.” Dan sank lower in his seat.

“Huh?” Barry was a smart fellow, but he couldn’t put it together.

“Arin and Suzy and I’re together. Kind of. We don’t do labels.” 

Barry’s eyes widened. “How did I not guess? How weirdly oblivious am I?”

“We haven’t been telling anyone,” explained Dan. “It’s been kind of a secret.”

“But I should’ve guessed! That whole thing about your love life, the way the whole house smelled like roses back in September. The signs were there the whole time.”

“Dude, cool it. You’re not Superman.”

“So what’s the problem?” asked Barry. “What’s wrong with Suzy?” Barry frowned and automatically grabbed for Dan’s hand. “Oh my God, what did you do?”

“It’s a long story, dude, and I don’t even know if I should tell you at this point. It’s only half my business. Or maybe not even half my business,” he admitted. “Just keep your fingers crossed for us, kay? And for my sake, please, please don’t tell Ross and Holly.”

“Why? I think he’d keep a secret if you asked him.”

“Dude, this is Ross. He loves to troll the hell out of everyone. Keeping everything quiet will make our lives a thousand times easier.”

“Got it.” Barry pulled the truck into their driveway and cut the ignition. “Whatever’s going on man, good luck with it. Same to Suzy and Arin. You’ve got my support.”

“Thanks,” Dan said, relief clear and soft in his voice. He knew he could always trust Barry in the most dire of times, but the extra confirmation made him feel a lot better.

*** 

“What sounds better? Baby Baby Baby Sit on my Face or Baby Baby Baby Baby parentheses Sit on My Face?” 

Dan looked up from his morning tea to watch Brian scribbling notes down on the legal pad that served as Dan’s notebook. “I thought we got rid of that song.”

“My mind’s been changed by recent events,” Brian said. “In that my wife totally sat on my face this morning,” he smirked, reaching for a high five that Dan gave back with minimal enthusiasm. 

“Yeah, congrats on nailing your wife, the girl you bone all of the time and stuff,” Dan smirked.

“Don’t be a dick about it, dude. Are you hard up or something?” 

“No,” Dan admitted. “I almost wish that was the problem.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind,” Dan flushed. “I didn’t say anything.”

Brian’s keen eyes focused in on Dan’s expression. “What’s going on, baby boy?”

“NOTHING! PLEASE forget I said anything and go with the parentheses.” 

“Riiight,” Brian replied, scratching another line across the paper. “These are good to go, I think.”

“Fine,” Dan muttered. His phone burred and he noticed it was Arin’s number. “Hey, boo, what’s up?”

“Sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for Suzy to finish up her blood test. You wanna meet me for lunch? There’s a pizza place - it’s on Storrow Drive, next to the huge ass Rite Aid they just put in.”

“Yeah, I remember where that is. Gimmie a sec, I’ll be right there.” Arin’s casual attitude still didn’t help Dan’s barely-muffled anxiety. 

“Hubby calling?” Brian teased Dan.

“Whatever, dude,” said Dan. “I’ll see you tonight at your place.”

“See you then. And keep your nose clean, Dan.”

“I’ll try to, man,” Dan replied. It was all he could offer Brian in his distracted state of mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arin and Dan meet for lunch, but Arin’s anxiety over Suzy’s condition continues to mount.

The pizza place was half deserted on this weekday afternoon. Dan was relieved; the last thing he wanted to do was deal with fans on a day like this. Arin was in the back of the room, picking on his pizza, sipping a soda, distracted completely in expression. To Dan’s surprise he lit right up when he saw Dan.

Arin pecked his cheek as Dan sat down. “Everything okay?” Dan asked. 

“Yeah, she’s getting some blood work. They want to make sure everything’s okay with her thyroid.” Arin picked at his pizza. “Help yourself, dude.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Two greasy slices summarily ended up in Dan’s stomach with all due speed. He noticed that Arin’s picking hadn’t ceased while Dan ate. “Are you okay?”

Arin nodded, but then he sighed and shifted, leaning his chin against his palm. “Y’know how the whole baby thing hit you right away?”

“Yeah?”

“It hit me when I was sitting there next to Suzy, watching her doctor talk down to her about being more careful and watching out for her health.” Arin’s expression remained rueful. “I’ve been sitting here trying not to think about what having a baby could do to her thyroid problem.”

“It’s not anyone’s fault.”

“It’s like, ninety percent my fault, dude. I’m the one who should take care of Suz when it comes to birth control, even though she totally hates me saying it is.. It’s my fault that I totally blew it.”

“What about me? In case you don’t remember, I totally failed jizz chucking 101 when it came to Suz.”

Arin shook his head. “Not helping at all, dude.”

“Well…maybe it’s a blessing. Whatever happens,” Dan said, “It was meant to be. Baby or no baby, we’ll just roll with the punches and stuff.”

Arin laughed softly. “Ugh. How’re we gonna explain….this…to our folks if we have to? My dad’s gonna be cool but my mom’s gonna freak.”

“We can always lie,” Dan suggested.

“That’ll work for nine months,” Arin groused. Dan could only reach for his hand. 

“Do you still want this to be a thing?” he asked. God, he hoped so. If Arin said no his heart would be crushed. 

“Always, dude.” He squeezed Dan’s hand. “Like, I want you to stay as long as you want to.”

Dan grinned. “So like…forever?” How had that offer of commitment rolled from his lips with such ease? He should be running, but with Arin’s desperate need for some sense of security on the line he’d come to realize how many of his worries were foolish.

“Yeah.” Arin agreed. “Forever.” Arin’s cell phone promptly burred in his pocket. “Hello? Hey, Suz. Okay….I’ll be by with Dan in a couple of minutes. Hold still til then.”

“Is she ready?” Dan asked, finishing the pizza off as Arin stood up.

“Yep,” he said, swallowing nervously as he got rid of the tray. They headed toward their respective cars and Dan prepared to follow Arin to the clinic. But before he got there, Arin added, “and she wants to talk to both of us.”

Suddenly the warm California sunshine seemed a thousand times colder. Dan nodded, climbing into the cab of his truck. Onward to destiny, he thought to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The verdict is in...

Suzy was quiet, even somewhat contemplative, as Arin settled down beside her in the doctor’s office. He handed her a bottle of water from the vending machine and she sipped it while nervously kicking her heels against the metal bed upon which they sat. Suzy tilted her head back, puffing a mouthful of hair out from between her lips. Arin wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she smiled as he rubbed her skin, albeit bittersweetly.

“I’m going to have to do it,” she said out of the blue.

“Huh?” Arin’s eyes had been darting from object to object, unable to focus on a single thing.

“If there’s a baby. I’ll…” she gestured helplessly toward her stomach and the room around her.

“Oh Suz,” he said, feeling his heart throb painfully in his chest.

She shook her head. “My thyroid problem….the drinks I had around the time it was probably conceived…” she hugged her own knees. “We’re not ready, Arin. We said we’d wait until we were thirty. It shouldn’t have to live a lifetime of paying back my mistakes.”

“But maybe it’s supposed to happen.” She looked up and shook her head sadly at his proclamation. Only Arin would think that way, only he would try to make something sweet out of something that could go so wrong. 

“You know I don’t believe in fate,” she said. “And you know it’s not fair to Dan. He might say he’s in for the ride with us but he never wanted kids.”

“Never wanted kids at the moment. ‘Up in the air’, Suz. He never made a real choice either way.”

“But it’s still not a fair thing to ask,” she pointed out. “I don’t want to trap him and I…”

At that point the doctor entered the room and silenced all further conversation.

*** 

Dan sat on the couch in the sitting area of the office, absently holding on to the Pikachu plushy while staring blankly ahead of him. Normally he’d be perusing his own phone but he couldn’t and didn’t dare try to concentrate on anything, even something lighter or more interesting. Suzy and Arin would be here any minute, and they’d have news for him, news he wasn’t entirely sure he was ready for. News that could change his life.

What made a dad? When he thought of the word he pictured Avi. Avi, who was from another nation entirely and grappled with the American world just to make sure his kids had a foothold in the American world. 

Could he be that good to his own prospective child? Could he ever match up, make his kid respect and love him the way Avi did Dan and his sister?

He wanted to try. Wanted to be there for Arin and Suzy the way no one else would.

“Dan?”

The sound of their voices on the stairway was like a sudden shock of adrenalin. He automatically turned toward Arin and Suzy as they pealed upward from the staircase, coming to hover on the landing.

Dan swallowed hard to rid himself of his nerves. “So,” he said, “what’s the verdict?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I admit that this chapter's short because I have no idea which direction this part of the series should go in. So: Baby or no baby? Leave a comment with your opinion if you care to.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The results are in...

Suzy shook her head. “No baby,” she said. 

Dan felt a queer giving in of his insides; relief and sadness mixing up into one ball of nausea in his stomach. “Are you o…” Before he could complete his thought, he had an armful of Suzy.

“It was her thyroid,” Arin said. “It was pumping out hormones because of the med switch and making her sick to her stomach.”

“Thanks,” Suzy muttered into Dan’s shoulder. Arin pressed his hand against the middle of her back, and it was a long time before anyone thought to move.

Dan was the one who gently maneuvered her onto the couch and started stroking back her hair. She’d been crying for a long time before this; her eyes were a tidge red. “What else is wrong?”

The words came out of Suzy’s mouth in a thick rush. “I’m probably going to have to get a biopsy.” 

“Oh my God,” Dan mumbled. Arin kept making soft cooing noises, stroking the back of Suzy’s neck. Dan’s palm stayed open and strayed up and down her side.

“I’m sorry,” she said suddenly.

“Huh? Why are you sorry?” Dan worried. “There’s no reason for you to be sorry.”

“That I made you worry, that I wasn’t careful – that I’m going to be laid up and be emotionally wrecked while they juggle my meds again.” She shook her head. “You didn’t sign up for any of this, Dan. You’re supposed to be having a good time with us and I fucked it up…”

“Scuze…” He shook his head and tried to pull the both of them into his arms at the same time. “Um, major confession here – I was never just in this for the sex. You’re my best friends”

Suzy sniffled, but Arin beamed at him. “I knew you weren’t. You’re too good a person for that.” 

Dan impulsively leaned forward and pecked Arin on the lips. Arin stroked the hair out of Dan’s face, before returning to brush Suzy’s side.

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

Dan shrugged. “I’m gonna move in.” The words leapt from his throat and his lovers stopped and simply stared at him. “You’re gonna need my help, right, after the surgery?” He kept charging ahead, trying to beat back his fears with a few quick words. “I don’t have a lot of experience with shit like that, but I’ll try, I promise I’ll...”

Suzy cupped his wrist and pulled it to her lips. “Can we not talk about this?”

“Yeah,” Dan said thickly. She pulled both boys close together, lying flat on her back against the couch.

And Dan said nothing more, letting the quiet of the room seep into their worried bones.


End file.
